Festival Sensation ‘The Lobster’ Joins A24’s Impressive 2016 Roster

Festival Sensation 'The Lobster' Joins A24's Impressive 2016 Roster

In a surprising release shuffle, A24 has picked up North American distribution rights to Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster.” The film, which premiered to vast acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival last year, was originally picked up by Alchemy back in May 2015 and scheduled to be released on March 11, but company struggles have resulted in a bait and switch, with A24 stepping in to release the film on an unspecified release date.

Set in somewhat of a dystopian future where society highly values relationships, the movie stars Colin Farrell as an architect who checks into a hotel after his wife leaves him. The hotel acts as a dark and twisted dating service, as the architect has just 45 days to find a new partner or else he’ll be transformed into an animal of his choosing. John C. Reilly, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Olivia Colman and Lea Seydoux co-star.

Set in a distant future where society highly values relationships, “The Lobster” stars Colin Farrell as an architect who checks into a hotel after his wife leaves him. The hotel acts as a twisted dating service, as the architect has just 45 days to find a new partner or else he’ll be transformed into an animal of his choosing. John C. Reilly, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Olivia Colman and Lea Seydoux co-star.

Despite drawing up buzz with an excellent trailer earlier this month, Alchemy will no longer distribute the picture. The company, which launched just over a year ago, has been struggling with its releases recently, which include the Kristen Wiig vehicle “Welcome to Me,” the Gaspar Noe shocker “Love” and the Nicole Kidman thriller “Strangerland.” The romantic-comedy documentary “Meet the Patels” is the only title of Alchemy’s six releases to have grossed over $1 million in the past year.

A24 has not yet set a release for “The Lobster,” though considering the distributor is about to launch “The Witch” nationwide this weekend, followed by SXSW winner “Krisha” in March and Jeremy Saulnier’s “Green Room” in April, we probably won’t see the satire until the summer at the very earliest. The company also has Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s “De Palma” set for release this year, too.

Alchemy isn’t going under just yet, but selling “The Lobster” certainly isn’t a good sign for the distributor’s future. No word has come in on what will happen with its upcoming titles, most notable “Mia Madre,” which is set for a March 25 release. The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news on the distribution switch.